


A Walking, Talking Bundle of Chaos

by marzbarz



Series: it takes a village (or a pirate crew) [4]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 19:09:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1277653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marzbarz/pseuds/marzbarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Moby Dick is now home to a walking, talking whirlwind of fun named Luffy. Life on the Moby Dick is starting to turn into quite the adventure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Walking, Talking Bundle of Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> This marks the transition from a developmental milestone per chapter to a year of life per chapter! Woooooooooooo!

Marco wasn't sure what woke him; he figured it was just a particularly loud crash of thunder and closed his eyes, intending to go back to sleep. His eyes snapped back open when he heard a quiet sniffle and he turned to the door, where he saw a small form standing in the doorway, peeking into his room. "Luffy? What's up, yoi?" he asked, sitting up and blinking rapidly in an attempt to wake himself up further.

He got his answer when thunder crashed overhead and Luffy flinched at the sound, practically catapulting himself into the room and the phoenix's open arms with a sob. "Shhhh, Lu, shhhhh, it's okay," Marco said soothingly, hugging the boy close and rubbing soothing circles on his back. "That noise is called thunder, yoi. It's part of the weather."

“No like,” Luffy mumbled into Marco’s chest. “Scary. Too loud.”

Marco chuckled a little. “It’s far too loud, you’re right about that, yoi.” He settled himself against the headboard of his bed, rocking Luffy gently in his lap. “You get used to it, though. It’s pretty common around certain parts of the Grand Line, yoi.”

The thunder came again and Luffy started, clutching Marco a little tighter. “No like, no like,” he mumbled, pressing himself closer to the commander.

Marco sighed, patting Luffy’s back softly and bringing a blanket up to cover them both. “Try not to think of it as something scary, yoi,” he said softly. “Think of it like – like clouds giving each other high-fives.”

Luffy looked up at Marco curiously, fear forgotten for a moment. “Clouds high-five?” he asked, making the motion.

Marco nodded. “Thunder comes from these big clouds up in the sky, yoi. So whenever it crashes, try to think of what happened that the clouds are high-fiving each other for.” Thunder crashed again, and Marco continued before Luffy could freak out. “I bet one cloud was congratulating another for pulling a good prank, yoi.”

“Thatch prank?” Luffy said, grinning widely and patting Marco’s hair. The fourth division commander had dyed it an eye-watering shade of hot pink a week ago, and Luffy loved it.

“Yes, a prank like Thatch’s,” Marco said, rolling his eyes. Luffy giggled, and Marco congratulated himself for thinking of a good distraction. They continued the little game until Luffy eventually fell asleep, whispering ideas to each other with each loud boom. Marco scooted carefully down the mattress until he was laying down again, Luffy snuggling into his side immediately. “G’night, _turico,_ ” he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Luffy’s head before settling an arm around the kid and closing his eyes.

* * *

 

“GET BACK HERE, BRAT!”

Activity on the deck of the Moby Dick paused, everyone watching a naked two-year-old race past them followed closely by a soaking wet Thatch wearing a pair of shorts. As one, the crew members shrugged and went back to their work – the weekly bath show was nothing special at this point. The only part that changed was who the chaser was and how far Luffy made it before he got caught.

Luffy dodged skillfully through the legs before him, shouting “NO BATH, MEANIE THATCH!” as he ran for Whitebeard’s chair. Once he reached it he scrambled up the side until he was clinging to the man like a koala. “Bath stoopid!”

“Stupid or not it is also necessary,” Thatch growled, glaring up at Luffy as he came to a stop in front of Whitebeard’s chair with his hands on his hips. “You’re not getting out of it this week, just like you didn’t get out of it last week. Or the week before that. Or all the weeks before that. It’s bath time and you know it.” When Luffy stuck his tongue out in response, Thatch scowled. “I’m already tempted to give you a salt-water bath instead of a safe one, buster, don’t push it.”

“You can’t throw him overboard and call it a bath, yoi,” Marco called down from the crow’s nest where he was on watch, an amused look on his face.

“NO BATH!” Luffy screeched when he heard the hated word, somehow managing to climb all the way to the top of Whitebeard’s head. “Oyaji say no bath!”

“He did not! Oyaji, you didn’t, right?” Thatch turned his gaze on Whitebeard, who was grinning widely at the commotion.

Whitebeard waved a hand, making sure to keep Luffy balanced safely when he moved. “There is no such thing as an official bath time on this ship, Thatch. We’re pirates.” Luffy cheered, raising his arms in victory. “There are, however, official bath days, little Luffy. So your bath will be happening today, if not right this second.”

“But Oyajiiiiiiii, no wanna bath,” Luffy whined, flopping onto his stomach on Whitebeard’s head. “No fun. Wanna play.”

“Then we’ll make a deal,” Whitebeard said, plucking Luffy carefully off his head and holding him up so they were making eye contact with each other. “You take your bath now and play freely until dinner, or you play for an hour and then take your bath.”

Luffy crossed his arms, puffing out his cheeks. “No bath, all play!”

“Not a choice, kiddo,” Thatch called from the deck. “Oyaji’s deal is the best you’re going to get. If you don’t choose, I’ll be picking for you.”

Luffy blew a raspberry at Thatch before turning back to Whitebeard. “Bath now, then play with Oyaji?”

“Aye, brat. Take your bath now and I’ll play with you when you’re clean.”

After a minute Luffy nodded decisively. “Bath now, play with Oyaji.”

Whitebeard handed the boy down to an exasperated Thatch, who got him in a secure hold in case the little hellion tried to escape again and headed below deck. Marco dropped down from the crow’s nest, landing on the arm of Whitebeard’s chair. “He’s turning into a manipulative little guy, isn’t he,” the phoenix said, crossing his arms. “I’m not sure whether to be proud of him or not, yoi.”

“Gurarara. He’ll be a force to be reckoned with one day,” Whitebeard said fondly. “He won’t let anything stand in his way.”

* * *

Luffy’s appetite is considered a mystery on par with the Poneglyphs in Whitebeard’s crew. “Where does it even go?” Vista wondered, watching in morbid fascination as Luffy worked his way through the same amount of food the fifth division commander was eating. “He’s two. He should not be eating as much as a grown man.”

“Two and half!” Luffy interjected around a mouthful of food, glaring at Vista. “Two is baby. I two and half! I a big boy!”

“Sure, Lu,” Fossa said, ruffling the boy’s hair with a grin. “You’re a big boy. With an even bigger stomach.”

Luffy scowled and opened his mouth to reply when Thatch held up a finger, stopping him. “Ah-ah-ah. Big boys chew, then swallow, then talk.” Luffy pointed to one of the men at the fourth division table who was talking around a mouthful of lunch, and Thatch shrugged. “Everyone knows Kenji isn’t a big boy, you can’t use him as an example.” He caught the apple Kenji threw at his head for the comment and took a bite, waving cheerfully at his subordinate as he did so. “See? That’s not something a big boy does.”

“Captains don’t talk with their mouths full,” Curiel said, pointing at Whitebeard, who had just taken a large bite out of a chunk of ham.

The giant man dutifully swallowed his food before nodding. “Aye, brat. Listen to your brothers.” He wasn’t about to stand in the way of an attempted manners lesson – the brat wouldn’t be getting many growing up in a pirate crew.

Luffy chewed sullenly for a while before his eyes lit up. “I not captain,” he said, looking far too pleased with himself for making that point.

“But you’re a big boy, aren’t you?” Thatch said, with an exaggerated look of confusion. “And captains are big boys too. So if you’re a big boy, you do the same things captains do.” Luffy gave him a skeptical look, but he didn’t talk with his mouth full for the rest of the meal. The commanders all counted it as a win.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is brought to you by the war being waged between my teaching side and my pirate side. I knew, going in, that pirates weren’t going to do the things I do at work, but that didn’t stop me from cringing in despair and deleting snippets due to my brain completely rebelling against them. Lordy. So, mini manners lesson at the end because it was killing me.
> 
> I’m going to make a broad announcement now, because I’ve got the same two questions a lot – YES, Shanks will show up! In the next few chapters, actually. Ace and Sabo will also be showing up! They will take much longer to appear, but they are coming.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Please let me know what you think of this one.


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